Utility stool and the like



c. G. ALEXIOU UTILITY STOOL AND THE LIKE June 12, 1962 Filed June 15,1960 IN VEN TOR.

States This invention relates to collapsible and foldable stools, chairsor supports, and more particularly to devices adapted for providing acompact, light in weight and an inexpensive stool for body support, suchthat may be used when resting, and also for providing a unit so thatwhen in a folded position, same may be used as a walking staff orsupport and the like.

Manifestly, an object of the invention is to provide a collapsible andfoldable stool or body supporting unit, said supporting unit having afolding seat or pad, which is provided with a suitable elevating meansadapted for extending and for spreading a plurality of leg members orsupports from their normally folded and vertical position and adjacentto the center column thereof, and for automatically retracting theposition of said leg members into a vertically compact and parallellydisposed unit when said seat member is folded.

A further object of the invention is to provide a stool structureforming a foldable unit, so that same may be used as means for a tablesupport or a tray carrier when it may be required, or, that said devicemay be used as a portable chair or stool for golf players, exhibitionspectators and the like, or, to be used on beaches, picnicking or races,or, that same may be used as a cane or lean-on support or device, andsince the structure of said device is of a nature that may be easilyfolded and reduced considerably in its shape and size, then it may beused in places heretofore inaccessible.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novelcombinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear inthe course of the following description.

The invention also has for its objects to provide such means that arepositive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a workingposition and easily disconnected therefrom, economical in manufacture,relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

Reference is now had to the accompanying drawings in which the similarreference characters denote the same parts.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows an elevational and vertical view of the collapsible andfoldable stool, showing same in position when in use.

FIG. 2 shows the top plan view thereof, taken from the top of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a side elevational and vertical view of the invention, whenin folded position.

FIG. 4 shows a slightly enlarged and transverse sectional view of thecenter column and the leg sections, taken in the direction of the lines44- of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows another slightly enlarged and transverse sectional view ofthe center column including the leg members and braces, taken in thedirection of the lines 55 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 shows a vertically sectional and partly frag mentary view of theseat section, showing same in a slightly enlarged form.

FIG. 7 shows a fragmentary and vertically elevational view of the centercolumn and the spider member, including the sliding sleeve of thesupporting strut members, showing same in a slightly enlarged form, andtaken from the front of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 shows a fragmentary and side elevational view of the bracketguiding plates, showing same in relation to said center column, takenfrom the right of FIG. 7.

ate

3,038,693 Patented June 12, 1962 FIG. 9 shows a fragmentary elevationalview of the retaining bushing, showing same in a modified form.

Describing the invention more in detail, in its broader aspects, saidinvention comprises a center column 2, having a plurality of leg members4 extending outwardly from the mid-section 6 of said center column, ofwhich the upwardly extending column end 8 of said center column isprovided with a suitable mounting plate 10 and which is adapted formounting and for supporting thereon a foldable stool seat 12.

The upper end of each leg member 4 is hingedly mounted upon a pivot pin14 disposed in a suitable center spider member 16, said spider memberbeing secured upon a mounting bushing 18 which is held in place andposition by means of a taper pin 20 or other suitable fastening means,and thereby holding said spider member 16 in position at saidmid-section 6 of said center column 2.

In close proximity to and below said mounting bushing 18 a suitablesliding sleeve 22 is provided on said center column 2, said sleevehaving a set of equilaterally mounted bracket plates 24, which arerigidly mounted thereon, having the extended ends 26 of said bracketplates arranged in pairs and parallelly disposed thereon, and adaptedfor straddling said leg members 4 when folded in parallel position andalongside said center column 2, as shown in FIG. 3.

Each extended end 26 of said bracket plates 24 is provided with asuitable strut member 28, thus forming a pair of struts for each legmember, one end of each strut member 28 is pivotally connected to eachend 26 of said bracket plates 24, while the outwardly and downwardlyextending ends of said struts, and in pairs, are connected to andpivotally mounted on the lower and extended end 30 of each leg member 4,for guiding same into folding position, as shown.

Said sliding sleeve 22 is also provided with a retaining bushing 32which is rigidly secured thereon, the upper section of which is providedwith a pair of extensions 34, each having a control rod 36 attachedthereto, as shown in FIG. 7.

The retaining bushing 32 may, if so desired, be made in two parts asshown in FIG. 9, and said individual parts each having side flangeswhich may be held in place by means of suitable rivets or screws 38,each upper section of said side flanges having a suitable pin or studmember 40 to which said control rods 36 may be connected, as shown.

Said control rods 36 extend upwardly and each extended end is providedwith a suitable loop 42 which is adapted for engaging the lower crossmember 44 of the respective seat bracket rod member 46, the purpose ofwhich will be presently described.

The upwardly extending end 8 of said center column 2 is provided with aflanged end bushing to which said mounting plate 10 is attached, and forproviding thereon a base on which two pairs of suitable hinge members 52are secured.

As shown one hinge plate is secured to said mounting plate 14 from eachpair of said hinge members 52, and each of the opposite hinge plate orstrap 54 is attached to the respective underside surface section of aseat half section 56, so that said half sections may be folded upwardly,as shown in FIG. 3.

Said seat half sections forming said stool seat 12, each having a handgrip opening section 58 disposed at the outwardly extended ends thereof,also, each having a pair of pivoting brackets 60 mounted at theunderside section thereof and adapted for receiving and accommodatingthe outwardly formed and extended rod ends 62 of said seat bracket rodmembers 46, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8.

Said cross members 44 of each seat bracket rod memher 46 are slidablydisposed in the respective longitudinal slots 64, said slots beingoppositely positioned in pairs and provided in a pair of guiding plates66 which are securely mounted and held in place by means of rivets 68upon said upwardly extending end 8 of said center column 2 and in closeproximity to said foldable stool seat 12.

The seat half sections 56 are also provided with a layer of suitablepadding material 70 which is disposed at the upper part surface sectionthereof, the entire half sections and padding are then covered andenclosed with suitable fabric material 72, for securing a pleasant inappearance and comfortably relaxing seat for said apparatus when in use.

In order to maintain said guiding plates 66 securely in position and toalleviate the exessive weight which may be imposed thereon by the user,said guiding plates 66 are supported in position by means of a suitablespacer bushing 74 which may be fastened upon said center column 2 orarranged to bear against said mounting bushing 18, and thereby addingstrength to the respective parts when the apparatus is in use.

Also, in order to eliminate a sideward slipping of the apparatus, or, toprevent marring of surfaces on which said apparatus may stand and whensame is in use, the extreme ends of said leg members 4 including thebottom end section of said center column 2, are each provided withsuitable rubber pads or caps 76, as shown.

The apparatus when in folded position is always parallelly disposed,that is, the pair of said seat half sections 56 of said folded stoolseat 12, including said leg members 4 and the strut members 28 lieparallelly to each other in a compact form, so that when handling saidhand grip opening sections 58 together, said apparatus may be easilycarried or be used as a cane.

When in folded position, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, and when the use ofthe apparatus is desired, both halves of said stool seat 12 are spreadoutwardly and into a horizontal position, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, thedownward semi-circular movement of said seat half sections causes theseat bracket cross member 44 together with said loops 42 of said controlrods 36 to move downwardly, so that said seat bracket cross members 44following said pair of the oppositely positioned slots 64 in therespective guiding plates 66 will cause the lowermost ends of saidcontrol rods 36 to force said retaining bushing 32 downwardly.

The downward movement of said retaining bushing 32 and said slidingsleeve 22 causes said strut members 28 to spread and the movement ofwhich causes said leg members 4 to be forced outwardly and angularly, asshown the FIG. 1, therefore, it may be noted, that when said leg members4 are in their outermost angular position, then the lowermost end ofsaid center column 2 is also brought to a resting positionsimultaneously with said outwardly extended ends 30 of said leg members4,

and thereby providing a four point support for said apparatus, when inuse.

While I have thus described the invention with great particularity, itwill be clear that the same may be modified throughout a wide range.

I, accordingly, do not propose to be limited to the exact details ofconstruction herein shown on the drawings and described in thespecification, but reserve the rights in practice to make the necessarychanges and modifications therein, Which may come within the scope ofthe appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. In the apparatus'of the class described comprising in combination, acenter column, a spider member secured at the mid-section of saidcolumn, a plurality of leg members pivotally connected to said spidermember, a plurality of strut members connected in pairs to the lowersection of said leg members, a sliding sleeve connecting the upper endsections of said strut members and slidably mounted on said column andbelow said spider member, a retaining bushing connecting said slidingsleeve, a pair of control rods connecting said retaining bushing andextending upwardly therefrom, a pair of guiding plates on said column, ahingedly mounted stool seat upon the upwardly extending end of saidcolumn, and a pair of seat bracket rod members connecting said hingedlymounted stool seat extending downwardly for engaging said guiding platesand for engaging said pair of upwardly extending ends of said controlrods connecting said sliding bushing, for controlling the position ofsaid leg members when said stool seat of said apparatus is in use.

2. In the apparatus of the class described, as disclosed in claim 1,wherein, each of said pair of seat bracket rod members is hingedlyconnected to the respective seat half sections of said stool seat at theunderside surface section thereof and extending downwardly therefrom, across member in each of the extended ends of said seat bracket rodmembers, a pair of longitudinal slots in said guiding plates arranged inpairs and oppositely positioned therein for accommodating the respectivecross members at said extended ends of said seat bracket rod members,for guiding said cross members upwardly and downwardly and for guidingsaid stool seat into a closed and open position.

3. In the apparatus of the class described, as disclosed in claim 1,wherein, a spacer bushing is mounted on said center column and betweensaid pair of guiding plates and said spider member, for supporting theposition of said guiding plates when the downward pressure is appliedupon said stool seat.

4. In the apparatus of the class described, as disclosed in claim 1,wherein, hand grip opening sections are provided in said pair of stoolseat half sections and disposed at the extended end of each stool seathalf section for facilitating the opening and closing of said stool seatand for simultaneously facilitating the spreading and folding action ofsaid leg members of said apparatus.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS436,176 Hendrickson Sept. 9, 1890 494,303 Nixon Mar. 28, 1893 755,043-Pike Mar. 22, 1904 1,089,295 Vallier Mar. 3, 1914 1,601,206 Franz Sept.28, 1926 2,359,821 Black Oct. 10, 1944 2,560,447 Jansen July 10, 1951vain

